


All Wet

by randi2204



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: 3K Round-up Challenge, Fantasizing, Gen, Rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-07
Updated: 2016-09-07
Packaged: 2018-08-13 12:28:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7976800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randi2204/pseuds/randi2204
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's raining, and Inez just <i>knows</i> what's going to happen next...</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Wet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [farad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/farad/gifts).



> **Disclaimer:** They belong to MGM, Mirisch, and Trilogy, not to me, woes.

Inez had just finished sweeping all the dirt out of the saloon when the first raindrops struck her arms. She cast a dismayed look at the darkened sky; it had been cloudy all day, but she hadn’t expected it to actually rain. _What a mess it will be tonight,_ she thought. “¡La madre que me parló!” she muttered, stomping back inside.

Indeed, the rain continued all afternoon long, and Inez leaned her elbows on the bar, head in her hands, and just watched, mouth pinched. Perhaps luckily, no one was out in the downpour, but that, she knew, would change soon enough.

The first one to arrive was Señor Vin, just as she had finished turning up the lamps for the evening. He pushed through the swinging doors and headed for the table in the corner.

“Ah-ah!” Frowning, Inez pointed back toward the door. “Do not track mud all over my clean floor!”

Vin glanced down at his boots, caked with fresh mud, then shot her an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Inez,” he offered, and backtracked to the door to kick the mud off against the frame.

Inez sighed, rubbing the bar top with a rag. She watched Vin from the corner of her eye. _It is well that he is so… pretty,_ she thought. The rain had soaked his coat and hat, and when he took them both off, she saw that his hair and shirt were also damp. His hair curled a little when wet, licking over his collar. He slung both jacket and hat over the back of a chair and nodded his thanks when Inez brought over a mug of beer.

Not too long after, JD and Buck trooped in. “Whooee!” Buck called, sweeping off his hat and sending water spraying over JD, two clean tables, and nearly hitting Inez in the face. “It’s a little wet out there!”

“Thanks, Buck,” JD grumbled. “I wasn’t wet enough already.” He swiped a hand over his face, shook his coat a little; water dripped from it and formed a puddle where he stood. He squelched a little as he stepped toward the stove.

“Stop!” Inez ordered, and was gratified when they both froze. “You’re making a mess of my floor!”

“Sorry, darlin’,” Buck said with one of those grins that he thought could get him into any woman’s bed. “Hard to be dry when it’s rainin’ like this. Me ‘n’ JD, we’ve been ridin’ in this rain for hours, ain’t we, son?”

“Yeah,” JD agreed, taking off his coat. He tried to keep the water from dripping everywhere, and winced when he was only partly successful. “Sorry, Inez.”

Most of the mud from their boots had come off in the puddles they’d created, so when they joined Vin at the table in the back, at least all they tracked across the floor was water. Inez sighed again, staring mournfully at the mess on the floor. She’d have to get down and scrub tomorrow.

She didn’t bother to scold JD when he shook his head like a dog; the poor thing was soaked to the bone, his white shirt molded to his chest and back, even the front of his trousers wet. Buck was in little better shape, though the droplets of water clinging to his hair _did_ seem to make his eyes sparkle all the brighter. His sodden pants hugged the long, long line of his legs, and she could hardly tear her eyes away. _He might act like a… puto,_ she thought, sneaking another sidelong peek, _but he_ is _a fine figure of a man._

She was sliding their drinks onto the table when the batwing doors creaked again, and Señor Nathan and Padre Josiah entered. They weren’t nearly as wet as Buck and JD, but the mud on their boots and up their trouser legs spoke of a dash down the street. “No more mud on my floor!” she said, stamping her foot and glaring. 

“Of course not, señorita,” Josiah replied, taking his hat off. They dutifully scraped the mud off their boots – well, most of it, she noticed wryly – before sitting with their friends. As she brought more beer over, she saw that their shirtfronts were wet where their coats opened, that the rain drew out the silver in Josiah’s hair and beard, that it made Nathan’s skin gleam darkly.

“Anyone seen Chris?” JD asked, taking a long swallow of his milk.

“Ain’t seen him in town,” Vin said, pushing his nearly empty mug away. “Reckon he’s out at his cabin.”

“Guess we won’t see him for dinner tonight then.” Buck stretched his legs out under the table, and accidentally kicked Nathan, if the irritated look Nathan shot him was any indication. “He’s got more sense than to head out in a storm.”

“Indeed he does,” Josiah replied.

“Well, I’m hungry enough not to wait for him,” JD added. “Thought Ezra would already be here, though.”

Just then, they heard a loud thumping on the boardwalk. A moment later, Señor Chris strode in, paused on seeing the others staring, then stumbled a few steps forward as someone crashed into him from behind. “Watch it,” he tossed over his shoulder, but there wasn’t much heat in the words.

“My apologies,” came the tart response, and Inez felt her eyes grow wide. _That is Señor Ezra!_ “But I am _tryin’_ to get out of the rain.” 

“You’re already soaked, Ezra,” Chris retorted. “Another few seconds isn’t going to make a difference.” He nodded at Inez and the others, ignoring Ezra’s muttered, _“It does to me,”_ and took his usual seat at the table. Ezra followed, shooting a narrow look at Chris before taking the last empty chair.

If JD and Buck had been soaked, Chris and Ezra were absolutely _drenched_. The rain had seeped right through their coats and made their shirts wringing wet. Ezra had to struggle – and eventually accept Vin’s help – to get out of his tailored coat. His white shirt clung to his arms, and Inez had never before realized just how _broad_ his shoulders were. The chill of the rain had brought some color to his usually pale cheeks, and his hair curled loosely over his brow.

Normally, Chris’s grey shirt billowed loosely, but now it was plastered to him, outlining his chest and back and arms. He shifted in his chair and Inez wondered for the briefest moment if his trousers were…

She shook that thought off and retreated to the kitchen, where dinner waited to be dished up and served. The murmur of their voices followed her, and just for a moment, she closed her eyes.

 _Maybe,_ she thought with a smile, _maybe just this once, I could forgive them for the mess they’ve made of my floor._

***  
August 22, 2015

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for the [mag7daybook](http://mag7daybook.dreamwidth.org/) prompt [Inez, any, any, she hated when it rained and they tracked mud and water all over her floor, but truth be told, she loved to see them all wet… ](http://mag7daybook.dreamwidth.org/443496.html?thread=4236136#cmt4236136).


End file.
